Grieving Titans mourn loss of fallen colleague

Thursday, August 2, 2001 at 1:00am

The news that Minnesota Vikings right tackle Korey Stringer had died early Wednesday morning was more than a little unsettling at Tennessee Titans camp.

Stringer, a 27-year-old Pro Bowl player, was pronounced dead just before 2 a.m. Wednesday after suffering a heat stroke at Tuesday practice that caused his body temperature to reach 108 degrees and shut down many of his vital organs.

For some of the Titans players and personnel, the stunning news hit very close to home. Running back Eddie George and wide receiver Chris Sanders had played with Stringer at Ohio State.

Titans president Jeff Diamond had been part of the Vikings front office that drafted Stringer in 1995 and signed him to his first two contracts. Defensive tackle Jason Fisk had been a teammate in Minnesota.